With each release of election results, a mayoral race in North County San Diego just keeps getting closer and closer. Only 71 votes separated Oceanside’s incumbent mayor Esther Sanchez and challenger and colleague Deputy Mayor Ryan Keim after the San Diego County Registrar of Voters released the latest tally on Wednesday. Keim held onto his lead but Sanchez narrowed the gap from the previous vote dump. Sanchez, a Democrat, and Keim, a Republican have worked side-by-side on the city council for years. Both currently sit on the city council, which functions like a board of directors, with Sanchez as the mayor and Keim as the deputy mayor. The Registrar expects to release the next count on Friday by 6 p.m. Only about 77,000 ballots left to be tabulated, county-wide. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.